The present invention relates to a method for the performance of enzymatic reactions and to novel immobilized-enzyme flow-through reactors especially adapted therefor.
In Israel specification No. 46 178 filed 3.12.1974 there is described and claimed a method for the performance of enzymatic reactions. The present invention constitutes a modification of and improvement on the invention described in said earlier specification, the present invention being based on the discovery of cross-linked enzyme membranes utilizable in said method and having unexpectedly superior properties.
As is known the advantage of utilising insoluble enzymes for enzymatic reactions resides in the possibility of acting catalytically with an enzyme on a substrate stream in a continuous way without the need for separating the enzyme from the product obtained by the catalytic reaction.
The use of insoluble enzymes for the performance of enzymatic reactions is known. Thus, for example the following known methods of use should be mentioned:
1. The insoluble enzyme particles are suspended in a tank with stirring, the out-going flux passing through a filter.
2. The insoluble enzyme particles are packed into a column through which the substrate continuously flows.
Both systems were studied by various groups and in many cases, diffusion limitations, resulting from unstirred layers inside and around the particles were observed. These limitations become more important when the diffusion rate of the substrate is slowest and enzymatic reaction rates are highest. Thus it has been found that these diffusional limitations lower the efficiency of the insolubilized enzyme particles, and sometimes only a small percent of their potential activity is used. Consequently it has been desirable to find a method for the performance of enzymatic reactions by means of insoluble enzymes, substantially avoiding the disadvantages of the known processes.